"Fans, fans, in the stands, stop interfering with your
hands!" That revamp of an old crowd-rallying cheer could
very well be the slogan for the 2004 Chicago Cubs. Last week,
as the Cubs were five outs away from a National League Championship,
they were seemingly cheated out of it by a fan trying to make
a souvenir of a ball that could have been a crucial out.

In an instant, Steve Bartman became the newest goat in the
Chicago Cubs' folklore and the most notable baseball fan since
Jeffrey Maier. The whole ordeal was exacerbated by the fact
Moises Alou tossed Bartman the ball he had caught to record
the final out of the seventh inning. It seems Bartman lusted
greedily for a second.

Fans interfering with play are nothing new. Homer Simpson
himself once admitted to a lifelong dream of running onto the
field during a game (a dream that came true, according to a
framed headline kept bedside saying something to the effect
of "Idiot runs onto field: Springfield forfeits pennant."

Then there was the fan that tried to streak onto the ice at
a hockey game, only to knock himself out when he slipped. Western
has also had its share of fan involvement, underlined by the
two streakers at this year's Homecoming football game.

When there's nudity or drunkenness involved, it seems like
it's all fun and games. But fans taking an inadvertent role
in sports is a problem that's nearly impossible to eliminate.

Does anyone remember the fan who ran onto the field during
a Monday Night Football game a few years back, only to be destroyed
when Antonio Freeman ran into him at full tilt? As Dennis Miller
commented, "Look, mom, I came to the football game and
got my skull caved in!" While intentional fan interference
is one thing, "Bartgate" belies another problem altogether
-fans that are unaware of the game situation and not deliberately
trying to interfere. After the debacle, Sportsnet showed a
clip of Boston fans moving back while outfielder Trot Nixon
made a leaping catch by the right field wall at Fenway Park
during the American League Championship Series.

For Sportsnet, "fan awareness" was the difference
between Nixon making his grab and Alou being robbed. While
Bartman technically did nothing wrong, he should have been
following the game situation -he shouldn't have obstructed
Alou from making a fairly easy play.

If the Cubs had gone on to win game seven, Bartman would simply
be a footnote. Instead, he is the popular person to blame in
Chicago. What if his "interference" had cost the
Marlins instead and allowed the Cubs to win? He'd be a hero
akin to Maier, the boy who turned a long fly ball into a dinger
for his beloved Yankees.

Replays showed Maier was clearly in the wrong, reaching over
the wall to aid the Yanks. Bartman, on the other hand, merely
got in the way of a ball many deemed catch-able by Alou.

It's unfair to blame Chicago's collapse on one fan. If fans
are looking to blame someone, try manager Dusty Baker -he left
an overworked Mark Prior in the game when he should have moved
to his bullpen.

Meanwhile, Bartman's apologized profusely, claiming he's a
true blue Cubs fan and he never meant to hurt his team's chances.
He acted on instinct, doing what most baseball fans would do
with a foul ball headed straight towards them. Bartman will
have to leave Chicago to live in peace and he'll probably never
be able to return to Wrigley Field short of major plastic surgery.